It’s no secret that most LEGO is made from dinosaurs and carboniferous forests. But you have to drill hundreds or even thousands of meters beneath the surface of the earth to pump out that crude pre-LEGO material, often from platforms way out at sea. General Tensai takes bricks back to their source with this incredibly detailed, colorful oil rig that uses countless LEGO pieces in surprising ways. The overall effect is one of large-scale industrial activity full of pipes and conduits, a helipad with brick-built lettering, numerous towers, cranes, and gantries — and even a multi-colored oil slick on the ocean’s surface. But clicking through to the builder’s full-size photo rewards careful examination, from the Technic pump behind the red and white crane to the single minifig leg and yellow parrot projecting below the helipad.
Category Archives: LEGO
The LEGO Technic 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 rolls in: the good, the bad, and the ugly [Review]
Back in 2016, LEGO Technic did a new thing: it drastically raised the bar for LEGO sets targeted at adults by creating the 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS with not just a complex and detailed design, but also premium packaging befitting a luxury product. Two years later, the Technic team followed it up with a stunning recreation of one of the world’s most expensive vehicles, 42083 Bugatti Chiron, and we hailed both vehicles as among the best sets LEGO has ever produced. Announced last month, now LEGO Technic is back for a third time with another supercar, the 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37. Revealed by the Italian brand late last year, the Sián marks the company’s first hybrid vehicle in its 57-year history. The LEGO model is available now with a retail price of US $379.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £349.99 and includes 3,696 pieces. Has LEGO struck gold three times in a row with Technic supercars? Yes, but not without some unfortunate missteps. Let’s take a closer look and unpack the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly, in this lime green speed demon.
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New York’s Best and Bravest are life savers
My hair may be turning grey, and I have a job, a professional reputation and responsibilities, but hidden just under the surface is the same six-year-old boy who marveled at his first LEGO fire truck, back in the eighties. With the pandemic, for many of us, the last few months probably haven’t been easy. For me, personally, things could be a lot worse. I am healthy and so are my loved ones, I have job security and can work from the comfort of my home. Nonetheless, I am stressed by the uncertainty and by a never-ending amount of work, in combination with not being able to do many of the things I usually do to relax, such as traveling, meeting friends and attending LEGO events.
One thing that does help is being able to channel that six-year-old. I pop up to my loft and put some LEGO bricks together almost every day. And what does my inner six-year-old lifesavers? Well, fire trucks, of course. With a few decades of building experience under my belt and an adult’s disposable income, they’re obviously going to be elaborate. This pair of vehicles represents a Seagrave ladder truck and an ambulance, as operated by the New York Fire Department (FDNY). They are life savers in a real-world sense, but building them also kept me from going nuts.
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GayFOLs Virtual Pride Parade 2020!
Happy Pride Day! This week I shared with you my experience as an LGBTQ+ LEGO fan and later in the week we heard from members of the LGBTQ+ Facebook group, GayFOLs as they shared their experiences. This year, GayFOLs hosted its 2nd Annual Virtual Pride Parade where group members from all over the world can build Pride-themed MOCs and share and they are compiled into a slideshow.
The first one was last year and premiered at BrickWorld Chicago. In the time of COVID, virtual meetups are de rigueur, so in a way GayFOLs was ahead of its time in more ways than one! Enjoy the parade and once again, Happy Pride 2020!
Contributors: Aaron N., Alan V., Angela B., Ben A., Brad B., Cameron W., Carol N., Christopher M., Danni F., Glen C., Jimi C., Joe W., Justin B-J., Lukas E., Mitch M., Oscar S., Phillip B-J. Pixy B., Ryan M., SJ M., Stacy L., Teddy L., Timothy A.
New LEGO City Police summer sets revealed includes a runaway speedboat, a driller, and lighthouse arrest [News]
We get a look at 3 new City police sets that are slated to be available in August as revealed by retailer Brickshop.nl. All three sets have pieces that range from 160-189 pieces. All three sets feature chase scenes, including a helicopter, a police car, and a boat. Each set comes with two minifigures, each featuring a single police officer and three cleverly named criminals. The prices are only listed in Eurodollars at the moment, and we’ll update them as soon as we get more information.
Ninjago Legacy 71704: Kai Fighter [Review]
The Ninjago Legacy theme revisits classic Ninjago sets with updated builds and designs. Turning back the clock to Season 3, the 71704 Ninjago Legacy: Kai Fighter reprises 2014’s 70721 Kai Fighter, more than doubling that set’s 196 pieces to a much heftier 513 part count. This new version retails for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99 and is available now. Is it a worthy upgrade to the classic set? Come along as we run through the highs and lows of this new set!
Praise Tlāloc! Lord of clouds, god of waters, bringer of fertility to the parched land...
The annual BioCup competition is producing a wonderful range of LEGO Bionicle creations in many themes, but my favorite so far is Latin American mythology, with fantastical gods like the Aztec god of death Mictlantecuhtli by Tino Poutiainen. But my favorite so far is the Aztec rain god Tlāloc by Vlad Lisin. Tlāloc has characteristic round eyes and fangs, and wears a verdant crown with clouds encircling his waist. I love how Vlad uses click-joints for Tlāloc’s necklace, and the Bionicle mask at the top of the water flowing from the barrel is a brilliant use of parts.
Way back in 2006, I built the Aztec pantheon as minifigures — strange enough to go mildly viral through the “blogosphere” in the era before social media — but these latest figures show the power of large-scale builds using organic pieces from Bionicle and Hero Factory.
Dancing with the dark
We’ve featured a number of VB‘s disquieting creations in the past. Their latest, The Anito takes it’s inspiration from the ancestor spirits of Philippine religions. Perched among overgrown idols, this mysterious figure gazes at us with piercing white eyes almost lost in a sea of organic curves capped with bony appendages. Is that a white flute the figure is playing? Is this music we really want to hear?
I like the work put into the setting. Those bony elements return in dark tan to form some dead plants, but that’s balanced by a good mix of bright green vegetation. The dark green bits in the foreground include the head of the Norse Midgard Serpent. Mixing mythologies a bit, maybe, but totally worth it for the effect.
As an aside, that idol on the right is uses some big toothed wheels to form the mouth. That’s soooo close to fitting my “Technic Gears for teeth” trope of late. It’s a thing I tell you. A THING. Either that, or all these creepy images are just really starting to get to me.
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for June 27, 2020
In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the last week of June 2020.
LEGO Ideas announced that Seinfeld, Home Alone and a typewriter will become new sets, and we got a hands-on look at the newest Disney, Ninjago, Jurassic World and Technic sets. Read on to see everything you may have missed from the week.
TBB REVIEWS: We got an early look at upcoming Disney, Ninjago, Technic and Jurassic Worl sets, and the baby dinos stole the show!
- Review of LEGO 43179 Mickey & Minnie Mouse Buildable Characters – Who’s the leader of the fun for all the family? And what does this iconic duo look like ion the inside?
- Review of LEGO 71705 Ninjago Legacy: Destiny’s Bounty – The Destiny’s Bounty is back! This Legacy Edition of the Ninja’s HQ ship is a redux of the original set from 2012, and we’re taking a look at how LEGO has upgraded it from 680 pieces to almost 1,800.
- Review of LEGO 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R motorcycle – Is the Technic Ducati Panigale V4 R superbike really super? Read on to find out.
- Review of LEGO Jurassic World 75939 Dr. Wu’s Lab: Baby Dinosaurs Breakout – Baby dinosaurs have never been this cute! Check out our review of probably the best LEGO Jurassic World set of this summer.
TBB FEATURES: The Brothers Brick is celebrating Pride Month with a series of articles exploring LGBT+ LEGO topics, plus some instructions for the cutest Razorcrest ever.
- Pride, visibility and LEGO Masters: My experience as an LGBTQ+ LEGO fan – In celebration of Pride, TBB’s own Flynn De Marco kicks shares his experience as a gay LEGO fan, including appearing on national TV with his husband on LEGO Masters.
- Pride & LEGO: LGBTQ+ LEGO fans in their own words – It’s Pride Week, and we are celebrating diversity in the LEGO hobby by sharing stories of a variety of LGBT+ builders.
- Instructions to build The Razorcrest – chibi style – hachiroku24 shows us how to build our very own model of The Mandalorian’s ship.
TBB LEGO SET NEWS: The new LEGO set announcements keep on coming with new Technic, National Geographic City and Friends, and LEGO Ideas sets on the horizon.
- LEGO reveals Seinfeld, Home Alone and a working typewriter will become next fan-inspired Ideas sets – LEGO is doubling down on nostalgia with the next three Ideas sets.
- LEGO and National Geographic partner to inspire kids about the environment and conservation – LEGO and National Geographic are bringing kids a menagerie of new animals to inspire them to be more environmentally conscious.
- LEGO Technic Summer 2020 sets fully revealed – Upcoming vehicles feature a Concrete Mixer Truck, a Boeing Osprey and a Volvo Truck.
- LEGO 40411 Creative Fun 12-in-1 promotional set for July revealed – LEGO’s gift-with-purchase for July is a summertime 12-in-1 rebuild kit with purchases of at least US $85.
OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
- How LEGO Turned the Monkey King into the Monkie Kid, IGN – Simon Lucas, Senior Creative Director at LEGO, talks about how they brought LEGO Monkie Kid to life.
- LEGO Masters Producer Anthony Dominici reveals lessons learned from season one, Deadline – “It’s surprisingly difficult logistically because there were literally 3.3 million LEGO bricks on set—and crazy enough, that wasn’t enough.”
- How Bionicle saved LEGO, Popular Mechanics – [Subscription required] How a brain tumor inspired Bionicle, one of the most popular toys of a generation.
- Stop-Motion LEGO Pizza Offers Smart Way to ‘Bake’ the Bricks, Nerdist – Korean YouTuber Bebop Stop Motion has cooks up a pizza LEGO-style.
- New LEGO flagship store opens in Hangzhou, China, LEGO – Located at Hubin, the 527-square-meter store is the fourth LEGO flagship store opened in China.
- LEGO Stem-themed pop-up store launched in Hong Kong, Inside Retail – Located at Hubin, the 527-square-meter store is the fourth LEGO flagship store opened in China.
- NINJAGO: Master of the Mountain – Official Trailer, YouTube – The ninja are invited to the beautiful Shintaro Kingdom but soon uncover a dark, forgotten underworld.
Simurgh yourself in the lore of this mythical beast
As LEGO builders ourselves we are inherently already fond of the creations we write about here on The Brothers Brick. What makes me take special notice however is something like this Simurgh built by Joss Woodyard. According to Joss, the Simurgh is a unity between land and sky incarnate. According to Iranian legend, the mythical creature is so old that it has seen the world end three times over. Plus it will also rid your surrounding area of snakes, so there’s that. I’m seeing also a unity between System brick and Bionicle. This seems to be Joss’calling card as he has taken us through a menagerie of mythical beasts before.
A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips
This LEGO Fatboy Mech by Marco Marozzi is decidedly rather rotund in the hip and leg area. I believe the medical term the kids used to throw around the schoolyard for this is “fatty-fatty-boombalatty”. But is this mech’s propensity toward tipping the scales a product of overeating or a glandular disorder? The stickers on this chubby chap clue us in that it may have an affinity for Red Bull and, while it is not overly fattening in itself, its high caffeine content could lead to high blood pressure and diabetes. Nasty stuff, that Red Bull but I would say such a thing as I am well north of forty. The crazy kids are into it though and by the time they get old enough to mix it with vodka you have already lost hope for them ever listening to good music. Kids these days! Am I right? Get off my lawn! Anyway, this is a rather cool mech, I admit. Cool mechs seem to be Marco’s thing.
Mictlantecuhtli? No thanks, I just ate.
In Aztec-culture Mictlantecuhtli was the god of death. In Tino Poutiainen‘s LEGO version, he’s…well, still a god of death, I suppose. Perched atop a grey stepped pyramid, this deity has got to be giving that little golden LEGO microfig the major heebie-jeebies. I really like the figure’s bright colors and innovative posing. There’s clever part usage to appreciate, too, like the blue minifigure hoop-blade weapons for bracelets, dark tan Technic rod skirt, and the silver Technic ball ends for earrings. I also dig that brick-built skull.
And yes, I think I’ve identified a new trend. This is the third creation I’ve written about recently with that “Technic gears for teeth” thing. I’m going to have to give it a try myself.